Friday, May 20, 2011

TdA Hangover - Stage 2

African cycling mission accomplished, Dennis, Kim, Paul and Matthew (Paul's brother) and I made the six hour drive out to Bloukrans Bridge to jump off of the world's highest single span arch bridge. It was scarier this time. Perhaps because it was my second jump and I knew what to expect. Perhaps because my mind is cleared of its focus on completing the tour and now had room to comprehend the insanity of what we were doing.

The next nights were filled with fun on the town and at our respective hotels, celebrating our last moments together. It was down to mostly just Carrie, NoHomo, Kim and me, with a few guest appearances. It is astonishing how comfortable you get with people after living with them for four months.

Spending time crammed in a car with the guys and then hanging out in Cape Town with friends helped me imagine that my tour of Africa is not coming to an end. I even delayed my flight by a day because I couldn't bear to leave yet. But, the fact is that each day, more of my fellow riders leave from Cape Town. Soon, I will leave, too. The urgency of NOW is so present. Knowing it is temporary and yet feeling like you have time to say and do things and then suddenly the opportunity is gone in what feels like an instant. This is the almost end.

Together we shared joys and fears, fatigue, dreams, painful muscles, empty stomachs, tortured stomachs, bruises and scrapes, wonderful moments, and suffering at times. It doesn't take long for all of the bad things to fade away. It is really hard to remember how hard the hard parts were, though I know that they were there. I liked this existence.